In the deep process of reforming the Chinese banking system, which began in 1978 and to date still pending, the increase of foreign participation has undoubtedly been one of the key trends. A key contribution in this direction was represented by the access of China to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001: this circumstance has, in fact, forced Chinese leaders to implement interventions to ensure a gradual opening of the system to market. In the past, foreign banks in China have generally concentrated on limited areas of activity such as trade finance operations for foreign direct investments and interventions in support of foreign trade in China. Today, foreign banks can operate in China either directly, through the establishment of their branches and subsidiaries or indirectly, as a minority investor in the capital of Chinese institutes. Many investors have also entered into cooperation agreements with domestic banks in non-core business, such as credit card segment.

The possibilities, in operational terms, accorded to foreign actors are serving, however, still important limits set by national authorities. The results recorded from 185 foreign banks that currently have an active presence in China testify, however, the potential of the phenomenon in the future: according to data released by PricewaterhouseCoopers, in fact, the net profits of such operators would be more than doubled in 2011, passing from 7.78 billion yuan (about 1 billion euros) in 2010 to 16.73 billion yuan (about 2.14 billion euros) last year. According to the same survey, many foreign traders are predicting an annual growth of around 20% until 2015: this could represent a major alternative to national markets to pursue profits. The increase, it is said, is primarly due to the growth of investment by multinational companies in China.